August 12 Wednesday – In Guildford, England Sam wrote to H.H. Rogers.

Land, but the Harpers must be acquainted with the road to wealth! Just imagine: Bliss to pay them 8 per cent on the retail price of my books for the use of the plates! Suppose Bliss sells 25,000 of one of my books at $1.50 — cost of plates, say $450 (at the outside $500) — is he to pay Harpers $3,000? They could give Bliss a duplicate set of plates at cost of $100. Why, this is murder in the first degree, isn’t it?

And Bliss was willing? All right, let him go ahead, it’s his funeral. And it’s about time somebody was squeezing that gang — they’ve robbed me for a quarter of a century; and wherever I catch Bliss’s old thief of a father, be it in hell or heaven, over the balusters he goes.

Sam once again thanked Rogers for all his work on his behalf, and promised to send him a copy of anything Bliss approached him directly with. He also expressed worry that an extension of copyright must be due for IA, and enclosed the application (to Spofford dated Aug. 11) asking Rogers to send it with the fifty cent fee to Washington for him. He announced they were in a house in Guildford for a month and that Livy was hunting for another for a longer period. Also, that they’d invited Rogers’ assistant, Katharine I. Harrison, to pay them a visit [MTHHR 229-30].